hillbilly fix its.

-
On my 51 Plymouth with a 68 318, got rid of the stock heater used unilug lug nuts to cap off the heater hoses, drove it for about 6 months with bucket seats bolted to some 2x4 boxes nailed together, they weren't attached to the floor in any way, then the nails started to loosen and the seats would sway back and forth. Had a 49 Dodge pickup that the side windows where broke in 2 pieces, would just pull the two halves out and stow them behind the seat.
 
I have been converting my 65 Barracuda to disc brakes. When I removed the lower ball joint bolts from the driver's side, I found a ball bearing "spacer" on one of the bolts. Evidently the P.O. Didn't have the right sized bolt. I was planning on rebuilding the front end this winter, maybe I'd better start sooner. Hard telling what other "surprises" I might find. Did I mention this car came from Kentucky?
 
I heard Crackedback knows a guy who used an unbalanced B&M flexplate to fix the vibration on a 440 cast crank motor that had a neutral balanced flywheel.
 
Oh yeah, I almost bought a 65 K-code Mercury comet that had plywood floorboards (not patches, but almost the entire pan) and 2 low-boy lawnchairs held down with J-nails. I was just going to take the drivetrain but saw the wood and figured the rest of the car was cobbled too. The van I drive now has a loose driver seat and every once in a while I gotta reach down to the tracks and hand tighten the nuts or the seat is like a rocking chair. I knew a nasty old X-con trucker that had a porta-jon under his seat, fold up the plywood cover and sit down for a #2 without missing a shift. Haaaa!
 
Last time I had a clutch replaced, I found the stock clutch push rod was a bit too short. So, I got a piece of threaded rod stock the same diameter, bent a loop in one end, ground that loop to the same shape as the original rod, cut off the rod at a useful length and installed it.

20 years later, it's still working.
 
Way back when you could kind of get away with most anything around here there was an old man that had a '40s Chevy pickup. He didn't have any license nor did the truck but as I said you could kind of get away with stuff like that. There was a guy that ran a garage working on the truck one day. He said Jimmy said the brakes quit working. I watched him take the master cylinder off and pour some thick nasty liquid out.......along with a French fry! Old Jimmy had filled the master cylinder with cooking oil. LOL
Jimmy also decided to paint the truck. He started with some blue but ran out so he finished it with that old aluminum paint like you used on tin roofs. Needless to say he painted it with a brush.
Dallas
 
Lessee, a few I have personally cobbed: I had a /6 I put a .530" lift solid in, but even after greatly reducing the cup on the pushrod, I couldn't get it in adjustment. It needed shorter pushrods. I cut sections from a bead lube bucket, and installed them as spacers to move the rocker shaft up. The plastic sealed the oil pressure perfectly, and put me in the middle of the adjsuter. Worked perfectly for 2 years until it was pulled.

I put a 383 in a '72 Valiant, and just used '75 Imperial upper mounts on the engine, and just lowered it onto the /6 K-frame and welded them on. I drove that one daily for 4 years. I also used a Craftsman 1/2" drive U-joint on the steering column to clear the stock manifolds.

On a Saturday night, while doing a power brake burnout, one of my bonded brake pads came loose. No parts stores till Monday, so I drilled the pad/backer, and riveted it on with aluminum rivets. I drove it for a year that way.

I bought an old Valiant that had the rear spring perches up through the trunk. I pop riveted patches over the holes, and drove it that way for 2 years. When the patch rusted out, I put a bigger patch in, and used self-tapping screws to hold it togehter. I got 2 more years from it.

I'm sure I missed some of the better ones, but you get the idea.
 
Had a Datsun 410 station wagon that I used to ice race back in Michigan.Car didnt come with windshield squirters and since I was close to the rear of the pack raceing, I couldnt keep the windshield clear and see.Got a douche bag and filled it with windshield washer fluid,hung it off vent window ,knee high.Taped hose and nozzle out side over drivers side windshield.When windshield was starting to get covered I would just whack the bag with my knee.Worked great and started getting into the mid pack.Yea,I was the DOUCHE bag kid from that day on.Mark
 
typical exhaust hangar broke, so used coathanger one.

I used a cast iron 340 intake to hold down the brake pedal on my old car to troubleshoot the brake lamp.

Things I saw at the junkyard:
~ a 4" long bolt as a drain plug on a late 80's Chevy truck
~ ratchet strap exhaust hangers on a Civic
~an exhaust manifold chicken wired AROUND the block to hold it on. Just barely. No gasket or bolts at all. That was on an '89 Mazda car
~A wire hanger kickdown that went thru the floorpan on a late '70s Ford van
~A window held together with scotch tape.
 
When I got a new clutch installed, the stock clutch rod was too short for my comfort, so I made a new one out of threaded rod stock. Bent one end around a bolt for the right ID, then used a bench grinder to reduce the width so a the mounting nut had enough threads to hold the rod in place.

Still working after 10+ years!
 
I used similar to kite string for a temporary throttle cable on a 63 VW Beetle once.
Routed it from engine to drivers window for hand op'.
Most memorable I've seen was a bumper jack placed diagonally inside a passengers door. The foot of the jack was where the lower hinge was supposed to bolt in.
 
yarcraft91 said:
Last time I had a clutch replaced, I found the stock clutch push rod was a bit too short. So, I got a piece of threaded rod stock the same diameter, bent a loop in one end, ground that loop to the same shape as the original rod, cut off the rod at a useful length and installed it.

20 years later, it's still working.
Click to expand...

That's not hillbilly...that's fabrication! :)
 
I had a 1985 Shelby Charger, with the old rod-type shift linkage. One of the rods came loose...it used a ball-and-socket setup to attach it, and the plastic socket (on the linkage rod) was worn. Part stores were closed, so I put it back together and secured it with a small hose clamp.

It held for the week and a half or so until I could get a new part. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top